Guide element for pivoting rails

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a guide element for setting or adjusting operations and for maintaining the end position of pivotal rails, particularly in the frog and deflecting areas, in wide-curve switch points. The pivotal rails rest, by means of one of the known elastic rail attachments, on a tie-like slide carriage which is displaceable transversely to the direction of the track and which, in turn, is held in position in the vertical direction by a bracket or supporting plate, being secured to a base plate, by means of a sliding guide, and guided in the horizontal direction. One displacing element consisting of two oppositely rotatable slide rings is so mounted between the bracket or supporting plate and the slide carriage that the lower slide ring slidably engages in the guide way or path of the bracket or supporting plate positioned parallel to the direction of the track. The upper slide ring slidably engages in the guide way or path of the slide carriage being positioned diagonally to the direction of the track and the lower slide ring is preferably connected with a pneumatically, or hydraulically, or electrically-actuated thrust setting element.

United States Patent [191 Dohse et al.

[54] GUIDE ELEMENT FORPIVOTING RAILS [75] Inventors: Ruthard Dohse,Essen-Bredeney;

Frank Klaus, Berlin, both of Germany [73] Assignee: Elketra-ThermitGmbI-l, Germany 221 Filed: Jan. 13, 1972 211 Appl.No.: 217,554

Berlin,

[52] U.S. Cl. ..246/392, 238/29, 246/342, 246/435, 246/468 [51] Int. Cl..E01b 7/14, EOlb 9/00 [58] Field of Search... ..238/l, 39, 29; 246/392,451, 380, 435, 430, 264, 389, 331,

[ 1 June 5,1973

Primary ExaminerGerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Richard A. BertschAttorney-James E. Bryan [57] ABSTRACT There is disclosed a guide elementfor setting or adjusting operations and for maintaining the end positionof pivotal rails, particularly in the frog and deflecting areas, inwide-curve switch points.

The pivotal rails rest, by means of one of the known elastic railattachments, on a tie-like slide carriage which is displaceabletransversely to the direction of the track and which, in turn, is heldin position in the vertical direction by a bracket or supporting plate,being secured to a base plate, by means of a sliding guide, and guidedin the horizontal direction. One displacing element consisting of twooppositely rotatable slide rings is so mounted between the bracket orsupporting plate and the slide carriage that the lower slide ringslidably engages in the guide way or path of the bracket or supportingplate positioned parallel to the direction of the track. The upper slidering slidably engages in the guide way or path of the slide carriagebeing positioned diagonally to the direction of the track and the lowerslide ring is preferably connected with a pneumatically, orhydraulically, or electricallyactuated thrust setting element.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENIEL-m 51973 3,737,657

SHEET 2 OF 2 GUIDE ELEMENT FOR PIVOTING RAILS The present inventionrelates to a guide element for the setting or adjusting operation andfor maintaining the end position of pivoting rails, particularly in thefrog and deflecting areas, in wide-curved switch points intended formaximum speeds.

In constructions with pivotal rails for wide-curved switch points whichare to be negotiated at very high speeds, a transverse displacement ofthe rails over a great length and the locking thereof in the respectiveend position are necessary in order to prevent vertical and horizontalmovements as a result of the trafiic loads. The extent of the transversedisplacement is variable.

In order to meet these requirements, it is known in the art to utilize alarge number of setting or regulating elements having a varying lengthof stroke and stop elements which must be locked and checked in therespective end positions thereof. The disadvantage of such aconstruction resides in that, due to the many elements and thesusceptibility to disturbances resulting therefrom, the operationalsafety is diminished and the costs are high.

The present invention reduces the number of the setting or regulatingand stop elements while nevertheless assuring an easy readjustment orrepositioning of the pivotal rails in order to maintain the wheel trackor gauge thereof constant and to lock the same in the respective endposition thereof.

This result is obtained, in accordance with the present invention, byvirtue of the fact that the pivotal rails rest, by means of one of theknown elastic rail attachments, on a tie-like slide carriage which isdisplaceable transversely to the direction of the track and which, inturn, is held in position in the vertical direction by a bracket orsupporting plate, being secured to the base plate, by means of a slidingguide, and guided in the horizontal direction. One displacing elementconsisting of two oppositely rotatable slide rings is so mounted betweenthe bracket or supporting plate and the slide carriage that the lowerslide ring slidably engages in the guide way or path of the bracket orsupporting plate positioned parallel to the direction of the track. Theupper slide ring slidably engages in the guide way or path of the slidecarriage being positioned diagonally to the direction of the track, andthe lower slide ring is preferably connected with a pneumatically, orhydraulically, or electrically-actuated thrust setting element.

In order that the guide ways or paths of the individual slide carriagescan be adjusted for the precise lateral displacement corresponding tothe respectively required deflecting ordinate, the guide ways or pathsare displaceably and lockably mounted in the slide carriages.

In order to avoid jolt-gliding phenomena, and in order to reduce thedriving forces, the sliding guides and/or the guide ways or paths of thedisplacing elements have friction-reducing gliding layers, preferably ofperfluoroethylene, or longitudinal guide rolling elements.

The construction of the displacing system may be so modified that theguide ways or paths are constructed in a raised or elevated manner andthe two slide rings are caused to glide at the outer surfaces thereof.

The advantages afforded by the present invention are that the adjustingor setting operation for pivotal rails no longer takes placetransversely to the direction of the track, but parallel to thedirection of the track via the displacing elements with the aid ofthrust setting elements. In this manner, it is possible that severaldisplacing elements be moved by one drive so that the total number ofthe displacing elements for one switch point construction is reduced.Due to the change of the inclination of the guide way or path in theslide carriage, the regulating distance for the stroke setting elementsmay be kept approximately the same at a varying transverse movement ofthe slide carriage. Furthermore, the proposed sliding guide between thebracket or supporting plate and the slide carriage satisfies therequirement for the vertical positioning or level of the rails whichheretofore was not necessary in switches since the speeds wereconsiderably lower than those which must be accommodated by the switchpoints in question. Any stop or holding elements, which are susceptibleto breakdown, are thus unnecessary in this construction. An expensivecontrol of the gauge distance also becomes superfluous in thisconstruction since the pivotal rails are firmly held in place on theslide carriage at a constant distance with the aid of elastic railattachments.

One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, wherein FIGS. 1 and 2 are a lateral view and,respectively, a top plan view of the guide system of the presentinvention, and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA through the slidingguide.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pivotal rails l and 2 are connected with theslide carriage 5 for example by means of one of the known elastic railattachments 3 and 4. The slide carriage is provided with a sliding guide6 shown, for example, in FIG. 3 which fittingly reaches or extends overthe bracket or supporting plate 7. The latter is secured to a continuousbase plate 8. It has a guide way or path 9 which is provided parallel tothe direction of the track. Within the guide way or path 9 glides thelower slide ring 11 of the displacing element 10, while the upper slidering 12 of the displacing element 10 regularly in the guide way or path13 which is regulably and lockably connected with the slide carriage 5.

The extent of the sloping position of the guide way or path 13determines the lateral transverse movement of the slide carriage 5. Whenthe slide ring 1 l is moved by the thrust setting element 16 parallel tothe direction of the track, the upper slide ring 12 being rotatablyconnected with the lower slide ring 1 1 is displaced into the guide wayor path 13 so that as a result the slide carriage 5 is displaced in thetransverse direction. The extent of the transverse displacement dependsupon the angular position of the upper and lower guide way axes 14 and15.

FIG. 2 illustrates by way of example the displaceability of the guideway or path 13. When forces resulting from the traffic load act upon thepivotal rails l and 2, the rails will be held or maintained in therespective end positions thereof by the sliding guides 6 in the verticaldirection, and by the displacing element 10 in the horizontal direction.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A. The pivotal rail1 is held on the slide carriage 5 by means of the rail attachment 3. Theslide carriage has, for example, a T-shaped sliding guide 6 whichextends over the counter-piece or element at the bracket or supportingplate 7.

When the thrust setting element 16 is actuated, the slide carriage 5 isdisplaced relative to the bracket or supporting plate 7 at a right angleto the section line AA.

In order to avoid jolt-gliding phenomena and also in order to reduce thedriving forces, the limiting surfaces of the sliding guides 6 and/or theguide ways or paths 9 and 13 are provided with friction-reducing slidinglayers, preferably of perfluoroethylene. It is further possible toprovide for corresponding longitudinal guide rolling elements, or toemploy gliding layers from specific materials which require littlemaintenance and have good dry operating properties.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modificationsmay be made within the scope of the present invention without departingfrom the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all suchmodifications.

What is claimed is:

1. A guide element for setting or adjusting operations and formaintaining the end position of pivotal rails, particularly in the frogand deflecting areas, in widecurve switch points, which comprises baseplate means,

supporting bracket means secured to said base plate means,

slide carriage means supporting said pivotal rails on said supportingbracket means, said slide carriage means being displaceable transverselyto the track direction,

a rotatable upper slide ring means slidably engaged in a guide way insaid slide carriage means, said guide way being diagonal to the trackdirection,

an oppositely rotatable lower slide ring means connected to said upperslide ring means and slidably engaged in a guide way in said supportingbracket means, said latter guide way being parallel to the trackdirection, and

means for displacing said slide rings.

2. A guide element according to claim 1 including locking means for saidguide way in said slide carriage means.

3. A guide element according to claim 1 including friction-reducingperfluoroethylene layers on said sliding surfaces.

1. A guide element for setting or adjusting operations and formaintaining the end position of pivotal rails, particularly in the frogand deflecting areas, in wide-curve switch points, which comprises baseplate means, supporting bracket means secured to said base plate means,slide carriage means supporting said pivotal rails on said supportingbracket means, said slide carriage means being displaceable transverselyto the track direction, a rotatable upper slide ring means slidablyengaged in a guide way in said slide carriage means, said guide waybeing diagonal to the track direction, an oppositely rotatable lowerslide ring means connected to said upper slide ring means and slidablyengaged in a guide way in said supporting bracket means, said latterguide way being parallel to the track direction, and means fordisplacing said slide rings.
 2. A guide element according to claim 1including locking means for said guide way in said slide carriage means.3. A guide element according to claim 1 including friction-reducingperfluoroethylene layers on said sliding surfaces.